[[Image:Audrey_braintripping.jpg|thumb|right|Audrey tripping on her brainwaves at the workshop]]

You can learn to solder! Anyone can. Soldering is a basic skill for just about all electronics projects. If you've never soldered before, this workshop will give you the confidence to solder in less than two hours. If you want to learn how to solder better, this workshop will show you how. If you have soldered before, this workshop will teach you to solder surface mount parts with confidence.

You can learn to solder! Anyone can. Soldering is a basic skill for just about all electronics projects. If you've never soldered before, this workshop will give you the confidence to solder in less than two hours. If you want to learn how to solder better, this workshop will show you how. If you have soldered before, this workshop will teach you to solder surface mount parts with confidence.

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* Jeff Trull - I'm an EE, and I can't solder. How sad is that?

* Jeff Trull - I'm an EE, and I can't solder. How sad is that?

* [[User:Enki|Enki]] ohai!

* [[User:Enki|Enki]] ohai!

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* [[User:PraveenSinha|Praveen]]

Pumpkins:

Pumpkins:

Revision as of 19:31, 23 November 2010

Mitch wants to teach a soldering workshop, and Mikael wants to carve pumpkins.

Time and Place

Overview

People happily soldering away at the workshop

Audrey tripping on her brainwaves at the workshop

You can learn to solder! Anyone can. Soldering is a basic skill for just about all electronics projects. If you've never soldered before, this workshop will give you the confidence to solder in less than two hours. If you want to learn how to solder better, this workshop will show you how. If you have soldered before, this workshop will teach you to solder surface mount parts with confidence.

Learn by doing!
I will have fun kits to learn with. For total newbies (and those interested), I will have kits for
Trippy RGB Waves project, a trippy, fun mood light using Red, Green, and Blue LEDs that has sensors on it to create waves of colors if you put a few of them together (scroll down from the link for more info). For more experienced people I will have a surface mount project (yet TBD -- but it will be fun!). You will be able to take your completed project home with you. If you prefer, feel free to bring your own soldering project.

Once you're done with your project, wouldn't it be awesome to fit your newly created functional LED thingie into a pumpkin? Making it reactive to ambient light? This way, you could have your own Jack-O-Lantern that only glows when glowing brings anything. So join in the pumpkin hackin' part too - with a light-sensitive LED circuit that'll take care of your pumpkin lightin' woes.

Cost

Mitch's teaching time is free of charge, but the Trippy RGB Waves kits cost $10 each (which is what they cost me), and the surface mount kits will probably cost about $20 each. Feel free to bring your own soldering project if you prefer (no charge for this).

As for the pumpkins, Mikael'll organize a pumpkin shoppin' trip on Saturday, and as long as you get requests through by then, you'll have a pumpkin. Charges for that: the price of your pumpkin, rounded up a bit to fund the cutting tools. Depending on size, anything from $2 to $15 (numbers are wild and unsubstantiated guesses).

Trippy RGB Waves lighting project

Imagine a bunch of little lights (maybe 20 or 40 of them), on a table, each about the size of a chess piece. Each is independent of the other. You arrange them around on the table any way you want. Each one continually slowly changes colors on its own. When you wave your hand over them, it creates waves of colors that follow your hand.

Light sensitive pumpkin lighters

With a pair of LEDs, a transistor and a photocell, and some wires, resistors and cabling, your pumpkin will react to ambient light and light up when the photocell detects darkness. It's a reasonably easy beginners project - with no more than 15 solder points altogether, and a total cost around $5, including a battery and a battery holder to drive the whole assembly.

Expressions of Interest

Add your name to the list here if you'd be interested in participating! Don't worry — we won't hold you to it.

rachel - I also have a technique I worked out for soldering crimping beads to SMD parts to let them be sew-able... happy to show this off if there is interest. Great sadness - unable to come, friend's wedding. Rachel 17:46, 23 October 2008 (PDT)